WASHINGTON — The National Transportation Safety Board investigation into the March 4 derailment of a Norfolk Southern freight train in Springfield, Ohio, is focusing on the performance of wheelsets, the board said in a preliminary report.
Four days after the derailment NS began removing from service 517 steel coil cars made by National Steel Car until their wheelsets can be replaced, the NTSB noted. The following day the Association of American Railroads advised railroads that they should inspect and remove from service wheelsets that were mounted by National Steel car between August 2022 and March 2023.
Bellevue, Ohio, to Birmingham, Ala., train 179 derailed 28 cars at 4:54 p.m. on March 4 near milepost 178.85 on NS’s Dayton District. Twenty-one of the cars were loaded, while seven were empty. No injuries were reported.
The 212-car train had three locomotives on the head end and two mid-train distributed power units. The 17,966-ton train was 13,470 feet long.
The NTSB requested that NS recover eight wheelsets from two of the derailed railcars. Photos taken on scene after the derailment show that three wheels from the wheelsets exhibited movement on their axles.
The NTSB said it subsequently placed an investigative hold on these wheelsets, additional wheelsets and other truck components from the accident train, and wheelsets from elsewhere in the NS fleet for examination. The wheelsets and other components were delivered to an NS facility in Altoona, Pa., for an examination.
The NTSB’s probe will focus on failure analysis of the wheelsets and on industry-wide standards and practices for railcar wheel and axle assembly processes, specifications and quality control.
I’m not sure why the NTSB would bother investigating defective wheel sets when the crack staff of Trains Newswire commenters have already determined that the cause is the length of the train. I guess it’s best to not let details get in the way of promoting one’s agenda.
Andy, your allowing common sense and logic to cloud your reasoning. That won’t be tolerated by the Keyboard Warriors.
First WMATA’s rapid transit in DC, now NS in freight service. What’s with wheels mounted on axles?
Just how SAFE is 212 cars @ 17,966 tons @ 13,470 ft. ???????
On any railroad.
There is our problem!?
Apparently nothing, unless you have some suspect wheels in the consist.
212 cars. 18 thousand tons. 2-and-a half miles long. What could possibly go wrong?